Multiple meter panel



Sept. 22, 1970 Filed Jn. 9. 1969 J. F. MEACHAM 3,530,340

MULTIPLE METER PANEL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ja-2&2.

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MULTIPLE METER PANEL Filed Jan. 9. 1969 5 Sheets -Sheet 2 sept. 22, 1970Filed Jan. 9. 1969 J. F. MEACHAM 3,530,340

MULTIPLE METER PANEL 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 22, 1970 Filed Jan. 9. 1969J. F. MEACHAM MULTIPLE METER PANEL 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 SePt- 22, 1970 3 J.F. MEACHAM 3,530,340

MULTIPLE METER PANEL Filed Jan. 9. 1969 v [NVE/WUR.

www5; fen/wr Mmc/sm A United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 317-106 10 ClaimsABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A multiple meter panel is provided with asingle openable cover having individual openings for each of the metersockets. Each socket is provided with a locking ring and the coveropenings are large enough so that the cover may be opened without thenecessity of removing any of the meters or breaking any of the meterlocking seals or removing any meter locking collars. Line busing at thepanel interior is enclosed in a housing disposed within the panel caseso that when the cover is open all line or unmetered busing isprotected. Transverse extensions of the bus bars facilitate energizationthereof as well as electrical connection to bus bars of adjacent panelsin multiple panel installations.

Prior art constructions for meter panels have been such that a lockingring was secured directly to the meter socket or the panel cover actedas a meter retainer. With either of these arrangements it was necessaryto break the locking seal in order to open the panel cover or removecover portions surrounding the socket. Ideally, breaking the lockingseal should take place only when it becomes necessary to remove themeter from its socket. However, with these prior art arrangements whenthe seal was broken the entire cover or portions thereof could beremoved to expose the line or unmetered busing making it possible tosteal power and/ or to accidentally contact energized blus. As willhereinafter be seen, these undesirable features are not present in meterpanels constructed in accordance with teachings of the instantinvention.

In the multiple meter panel of the instant invention the locking ring ismounted to the socket and is positioned forward of the panel cover,extending through a cover aperture that is suiciently large to enablethe cover to be removed without removing the locking collar. Inside thepanel case is a housing which encloses a plurality of bus bars eachhaving transverse extensions that are engageable through openings in thecasing for connection directly to an energizing source or connection toan adjacent multiple meter panel. The meter sockets, bus bars, andhousing are inserted into the case as a sub-assembly.

The meter socket includes an insulating sheet which supports theconducting elements consisting of four plugin connectors and strapsconnecting two of the connectors to hot bus bars of the meter panel.There is another strap for neutral connections and two other strapsextending from the remaining connections an'd terminating in circuitbreaker engaging contact stabs. The mounting sheet forms a partition ina housing-like barrier to which the locking ring is secured.

Accordingly a primary object of the instant invention is to provide anovel construction for a multiple meter anel. p Another object is toprovide a multiple meter panel in which a cover common to all meters ofthe panel may be opened without removing any of the locking collars.

Still another object is to provide a multiple meter ice panel having aninterior housing within which the panel busing is enclosed.

A further object is to provide a novel meter panel constructionincluding a locking ring.

A still further object is to provided a multiple meter panel that mayreadily be attached to two adjacent similar panels.

Yet another object is to provide a multiple meter panel having asub-assembly of bus bar, meter sockets and a housing mounted within acase having a removable cover.

These objects as well as other objects of this inven- 'tion will becomereadily apparent after reading the following description of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of of a three-gang meter panel constructed inaccordance with teachings of the instant invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the panel of FIG. 1 with the cover removed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the elements of FIG. 2 with the interiorsub-assembly removed from the case.

FIG. 4 is a perspective of the interior sub-assembly looking at the rearthereof.

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of a single meter socket of the meter panelof FIG. 1 with fragmentary portions of the meter panel also illustrated.

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken through line 6-6 of FIG. 5 looking inthe direction of arrows 6 6.

lFIG. 7 is an exploded perspective of the meter socket.

Now referring to the figures. Multiple meter panel 10 includes elongatedrectangular case 11 having removable cover 12. Five screws 13, receivedby threaded apertures 14 in ring plate 49 and inturned lips 15 atopposite ends of case 11, removably secure cover 12 to case 11. Cover 12is provided with three generally circular apertures 16A, 16B, 16Cthrough which the locking rings 17 of the respective meter sockets 20A,20B, 20C extend. As will hereinafter be seen, each of the sockets 20A,20B and 20C is of a type for mounting a conventional plugin typewatt-hour meter (not shown) or the like and locking ring 17 is adaptedto cooperate with a conventional collar and lead seal (not shown) toinhibit unauthorized removal of the meter.

Rectangular apertures 18A, 18B, 18C are located below the respectivegenerally circular apertures 16A, 16B, 16C. As will hereinafter be seen,apertures 18A, 18B, 18C are positioned so that the operating handles ofconventional double pole molded case circuit breaker connected in serieswith meter sockets 20A, 20B and 20C, extend therethrough.

In a manner to be explained in detail, each of the meter sockets 20A,20B, 20C is mounted to forward surface 21 of elongated housing 22disposed within case 11. Housing 22 encloses bus bars 25A, 25B and 25Nand also includes side wall 23 and end walls 24, 25. Each of the endwalls 24, 25 has an inwardly turned flange while outwardly turned flange26 of side wall 23 is provided with clearance apertures 27 which receivescrews securing flange 26 to the rear wall 28 of case 11. Screws 29extending through clearance apertures 31 in housing wall 21 are receivedby threaded apertures in split ledge 33 secured to the internal surfaceof case side wall 34.

Bus bars 25A, 25B, 25N extend generally parallel to the longitudinalaxis of case 11 and lie in planes parallel to housing front wall 21. Busbar 25N is disposed in a plane slightly to the rear of the common planefor bus bars 25A and 25B. At points aligned with case side wall openings34A and 34B bus bars 25A, 25B, 25N are provided with connecting parts35A, 35B, 35N respectively extending at right angles to the longitudinalaxes of bus bars 25A, 25B, 25N and extending from both sides thereof. Atpoints aligned with case apertures 34A, 34B, bus bars 25B and 25N areoffset to the rear so that terminal extensions 35A, 35B, 35N arearranged in a stack with terminal extension 35N between terminalextensions 35A and 35B. In the space between housing wall 23 and casewall 34' bus bar terminal extensions 35A, 35B, 35N are enclosed bytransverse U-shaped extension 22A of housing 22.

As will hereinafter be seen, securement of meter socket elements to busbars 25A, 25B, 25N maintains such bus bars in their operative positionsspaced from one another as Well as from the walls of housing 22..V-shaped insulators 36A, 36B (FIG. 4), having bus bar receiving slitstherein, maintain bus bar terminal extensions 35A, 35B, 35N in spacedparallel relationship and spaced from housing 22. Slot-like formationsin housing extension 22A position insulator 36B while similar slot-likeformations in internal brackets 22B, 22C of housing 22 positioninsulator 36A. It is noted that the unused slots in insulators 36A, 36Bare provided for modifications requiring an additional bus bar.

Itis noted that both ends of each of the bus bar terminal extensions35A, 35B, 35N are notched to facilitate the connection of a joint stackwhich will electrically connect meter panel to an identical meter panelpositioned alongside of meter panel 10 or will connect meter panel 10directly to a source of electric power. Joint stacks suitable for meterpanel 10 are of a type illustrated in FIG. 8 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,276issued Sept. 17, 1963, J. B. lCataldo et al. on a Through-Bolt Ioint ForBus Duct.

Since meter sockets A, 20B and 20C are identical, only the constructionof socket 20A will be described in detail with particular referencebeing made to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. Meter socket 20A includes enclosure 41formed of modified U-shaped elements 42 and 43. Rivets 44 extend throughclearance apertures 45 in ears 46 extending in opposite direction butoutward from the forward edge of member 42 and also extend throughclearance apertures 47 in ears 48 turned out in opposite directions fromthe upper edge of member 43 to yfxedly secure elements 42, 43 together.

The upper edges of elements 42, 43 lie in a common plane and supportring plate 49 having a circular aperture with a turned out neck portionconstituting locking ring 17. Rivets 44 also pass through clearanceapertures 51 in plate 49 to secure the latter to enclosure 41.Additional securement is provided by rivet 52 extending through aperture53 in plate 49 and aperture y54 in ear 55 turned out from the upper edgeof member 42.

The Walls of member 43 are shorter than the walls of member 42. At apoint to the rear of member 43 transverse barrier 56 is connectedbetween the arms of member 42. Insulating support sheet 60 is positionedimmediately to'the rear of member 43 and immediately forward of barrier56, with two adjacent corners of sheet 60 extending through positioningslots 57 in member 42. Insulating neutral barrier sheet 133 is retainedto enclosure barrier y41 by formations struck therefrom and positioningsheet 133- to the rear of plate 49 and forward of sheet 60.

Screws 61 extend through apertures 62 in insulator 60 and are receivedby threaded apertures 63 of retaining spring clip 64 to secure thelatter to the forward surface of insulator 60. In a manner well known tothe art spring clip 64 acts as a retainer to hold a meter mounted tosocket 20A in an inoperative position or that position in which themeter terminals do not engage the socket terminals.

Load strapy 66 is for the most part positioned to the rear of insulator60. However, offset portion 67 at one end of strap 66 extends throughmodified T-shaped aperture 68 to the forward surface of insulator 60.Screw 69 also extends through threaded aperture 71 in load strap 66 anda clearance aperture 72 in plug-in terminals 70, and is threadedlysecured by nut 73. Down-turned ears 74 of terminal 70 are received insuitable cut-outs at opposite sides of aperture 71 to prevent rotationof terminal 70 on load strap end 67.

The other end 75 of strap 66 provides stab-type terminal to be engagedby a plug-in terminal of a conventional molded case circuit breaker 130.The other load terminal spring clip l is similarly mounted to end 79 ofload strap 78 extending through plate opening `82, with screw 77 and nut76 securing strap 7 8` and load terminal 80- to insulating sheet 60. Theother end of strap 78 is provided with circuit breaker engaging stab 81and is positioned in a plane spaced from and parallel to the plane ofstab 75.

Line strap 85 extends through insulator aperture 89 and is provided withoffset portion 86 at one end thereof to position spring clip terminal87. Screw 88 extends through aperture 89 in insulating sheet 60 as wellas through apertures in line strap 85 and line terminal 87 and isreceived by nut 88 to secure these elements together and to secure themto insulating sheet 60. The other end of strap 85 is provided with lbusbar connecting portion 105. Similarly, the other spring clip lineterminal 90 is secured to end 91 of line strap 92 by nut 93 and screw 94with the latter extending through insulator aperture 95. Line strap 92extends through insulator aperture 95. The other end of strap 92 isprovided with bus bar connecting portion 106.

The central section of neutral strap 96 lies along the forward surfaceof insulating sheet 60. Wire grip 97 is connected to one end of strap 96while the other end of strap 96 is rearwardly offset terminating interminal portion 98. Screw 99 extends from the rear of insulator 60through aperture 101 thereof and is received by the threaded aperture102 in neutral strap 96 to secure the latter to insulator 60. Insulatornotch 103 and insulator aperture 104 adjacent to aperture 101 serve tooperatively position neutral strap 96.

Tabs extending rearward from enclosure member 42 extend intocomplementary slots 111 in housing wall 21 to prevent movement ofsockets 20a along the surface of wall 21. Screws 112 extend throughclearance apertures 113 in insulating sheet 60 and are received bythreaded apertures 114 in housing wall 21 to secure socket 20A tohousing 22.

Straps 85, 92, 96 extend into housing 22 through aperture in wall 21.Screw 116 in alignment with aperture 104 extends through a clearanceaperture in terminal portion `98 of neutral strap 96 and is received bya threaded aperture in neutral bus bar 25N to electrically connectterminal strap 96 to neutral bar 25N. Similarly screws 117, 118 inalignment with apertures 75 and 89, respectively, extend throughclearance apertures in the respective terminal portions 106 and 105 toelectrically connect line strap 85 to Ibus bar 25B and line strap r92 tobus bar 25A. Two rivets 121 secure mounting plate 122 to the forwardsurface of housing wall 21 in the vicinity of rectangular aperture 18A.At a point intermediate rivets 121 plate 122 is forwardly offset andportions are struck out to form hooks 123, 124 which are operativelypositioned with respect to stabs 75 and 81 to act as mechanical securingpoints about which molded case circuit breaker is pivoted into contactwith stabs 75 and 81. Insulating bracket 125, secured by screw 126 tothe forward surface of housing wall 21, maintains the proper operativespacing between stabs 75 and 81 and also serves to insulate such stabsfrom housing 22.

As seen in FIG. 6, when cover 12 is closed the inner surface thereoflies against socket plate 49 and engages edge portions of circuitbreaker 130 to prevent removal thereof. It is again noted that coveraperture 16A is larger than meter locking ring 17, and the clearancetherebetween is sufficient so that cover 12 may be removed without firstremoving the locking collar (not shown) or seal (not shown) which locksa meter to meter socket 20A.

Thus it is seen that the instant invention provides a simplifiedconstruction for a meter socket and also provides an improved multiplemeter panel having a single cover that may tbe removed without thenecessity of removing any of the meter locking collars. Further, ahousing within the panel case encloses the panel bus bars tosubstantially reduce the possibility of contacting live parts when thecover is open. To simplify assembly the bus bar, meter sockets, andhousing are secured together as a subassembly insertable into the baseas a unitary structure.

While the meter sockets and busing arrangement shown and described arefor a single phase installation, it should be obvious to those skilledin the art that the teachings of this invention are also applicable tothree phase busing and three phase meter sockets.

Although the invention has been described above with respect to itspreferred embodiments, it will be understood that many variations andmodifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art. It ispreferred therefore that the scope of the invention be limited not bythe specific disclosure herein but only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A meter mounting device including a case having an openable frontcover, a plurality of bus elements operatively supported within saidcase, a socket adapted to mount a Imeter and having terminalselectrically connected to said bus elements, said socket including alocking ring, said socket mounted within said case to the rear of saidcover with said ring extending through a socket opening in said coverand positioned forward thereof, said opening being larger than said ringby an amount sufiicient to permit opening of said cover without removalof a seal or a locking collar engaging said ring and locking a meter tosaid socket.

2. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 1 in which there is ahousing within said case, said socket positioned externally of saidhousing, said bus elements disposed within said housing.

3. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 1 in which there are aplurality of additional sockets each mounted within said case and havingterminals electrically connected to said bus elements, each of saidsockets having substantially identical constructions, said cover havinga plurality of additional socket openings, one for each of saidadditional sockets, said additional sockets having their locking ringspositioned forward of said cover, all of said openings and all of saidrings being relatively proportioned to permit opening of said coverwithout dismounting a meter or a locking collar from any of saidsockets.

4. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 3, in which each ofsaid sockets includes an enclosure barrier, an insulating sheetsupported by said enclosure, a ring plate secured to said enclosure andpositioned forward of said sheet, a plurality of plug-in terminalssecured to said sheet and positioned forward thereof and to the rear ofsaid plate, a plurality of conducting straps extending from said plug-interminals to the rear of said sheet, some of said straps terminating inbus element connecting portions and others of said straps terminating incircuit breaker energizing terminals.

5. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 3 in which there is ahousing within said case, said bus ele- 6 ments disposed within saidhousing, all of said sockets positioned externally of said housing, allof said sockets including conducting straps extending into said housingwith some of said straps connecting said terminals to said bus elements.

6. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 5 in which saidhousing, said bus elements, and said sockets are secured together as asub-assembly removable from said case as a unitary structure.

7. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 5 in which each of saidsockets includes an enclosure barrier, an insulating sheet supported bysaid enclosure, a ring plate secured to said enclosure and positionedforward of said sheet, a plurality of plug-in terminals secured to saidsheet and positioned forward thereof and to the rear of said plate, saidconducting straps extending from said plug-in terminals to the rear ofsaid sheet, said some of said straps terminating in bus elementconnecting portions and others of said straps terminating in circuitbreaker energizing terminals.

8. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 5 in which both saidcase and said housing are elongated, said sockets disposed in a singlerow extending parallel to the longitudinal axes of said case and saidhousing.

9. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 8 in which said case isprovided with aligned apertures in opposite sides thereof, each of said`bus elements being elongated and extending generally parallel to saidlongitudinal axes, each of said bus elements having transverse terminalextensions aligned with said apertures and extending from opposite sidesof said bus elements toward apertures.

10. A meter mounting device as set forth in claim 3, in which said coveris a unitary structure, a housing within said case, said Ibus elementsdisposed within said housing, said sockets mounted externally of saidhousing and including a plurality of conducting straps extendingrearward of said socket, some of said straps terminating in bus elementconnecting portions and others of said straps terminating in circuitbreaker energizing terminals, a plurality of switch devices connected tosaid circuit breaker energizing terminals with an individual one of saidswitch devices positioned adjacent to the particular one of said socketsto which the individual switch device is electrically connected, saidswitch devices mounted to said housing and disposed within said case,each of said switch devices having an operating member extending throughan opening in said cover to a position forward thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1961 Strong 317-109 7/1969Schubert 317-108 U.S. Cl. X.R. 317-108 gyg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 ,530 ,340 Dated 5 June 1972Inventods) James Frank Meacham ars in the above-identified patent It iscertified that error appe wn below:

and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as sho Column 4, line52, change "75" to 95 Signed and sealed this 19th day of September 1972(SEAL) Attest:

FDWAPD M .FLETCHER .JR. ROBERT COTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents

